Maximum Ride: Anything But Average
by chemicallyburned
Summary: Average. The one word that can describe me. Average face, average brown eyes, average ash hair, average lips, average smile, average grades. Average – well, everything. I'm not special in any way but one. And I've been told it millions of times. FAX! AH, AU, and ALL RE-EDITED! Chapter 5 now up! Nick get's his nickname! (chemiburned) dot (blogspot) dot (com) for exclusive previews!
1. Monday

**Any of my previous reviewers, hello! And any new readers? Hey, wassup? I'm ChemicallyBurned, but you can call me Chemi! It's a pleasure to bring this story back, the all new Edited Edition! Once I finish the chapters I have already written, I hope to update at lease once a week! But, from experience, I know not to promise anything. So, please, give it up for the first re-edited and sort-of-new plotline of ANYTHING BUT AVERAGE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not in fact own McDonalds. Wait, is that what you were asking...?**

* * *

**~Anything But~ Average**

**Chapter 1:**

**Average**

Average. Average is the one word that can describe me. Average face. Average brown eyes. Average ash-blonde hair. Average lips. Average smile. Average grades. Average – well, everything, I guess. I'm not special in any way but one.

And I've been told it _millions _of times.

My twin (my only un-average quality) has a tendency to rub it in my face. Maya, perfect blonde hair, perfect green eyes. Perfect face. Perfect smile, perfect grades. Perfect boyfriend. The only thing that isn't perfect about her – is her twin. The only thing that brings her down. Her tomboy twin, with the average everything, and below average love-life.

So you can guess how many times out of ten that her anger and problems are aimed towards me. The fact that our teacher paired me with her boyfriend, also happens to be my fault, which is really weird. Because, I don't remember going up to the teacher and getting him to let me be the target of my sisters wrath.

You may be wondering, _"Okay, whose life story did I just pick up? Because this book stinks."_

And you have all the right to wonder, since I do much of the time as well.

When I was little, I had a tendency to act weird. And by weird I mean that I had an attitude and hated authority. At five. I'm pretty sure that's how it all started. I remember a specific incident, the one where I actually met my best friend.

_I sat in the red group in Kindergarten, with my sister and some kid named Gavin. My teacher stood at the front of the room with a piece of chalk. On the board, she had drawn a picture of a mountain with a sun and a lake._

_"Oooh, are we drawing pictures?" Gavin asked._

_"Gavin, raise your hand, please." Said Mrs. Dart. He raised his hand and proceeded to ask the same question._

_"Yes, we are. We are going to be drawing today." She went around and handed out pieces of plain white paper and a pack of crayons to each table and all three of us grabbed it at once._

_"Hey, I call the red crayon!" I said._

_"Max, you need to learn to share. You can't always have the red crayon. Maybe you should try some blue, or some green." Mrs. Dart told me. I frowned._

_"I don't like blue. And green is for boogers!" I said, and Gavin laughed. Maya gasped._

_"Max, that's gross!"_

_"I know! That's why I don't want the green crayon." I shrugged. "And you can't make me give the red one back!" I stuck my tongue out to Mrs. Dart and held the crayon to my chest._

_"No, I can't. But maybe your mother can," Mrs. Dart looked at me with a smile. What an evil teacher..._

_"You're a doodie face!" I shouted and ran into the bathroom. I locked myself inside and sat on the floor. I heard the class giggling and gasping and Mrs. Dart came up to the door of the bathroom._

_"Max Walker! You unlock this door, and behave yourself!" She said._

_"No! You are an ugly old fart! I'm gonna tell my mumma on you!"_

After that, I was pretty much an outcast from the populars. Especially my sister. She had the decency to treat me like nothing was wrong at home, but at school she always ignored me. I get that I embarrassed her, but I also was only five, and I just had spirit. Mom and Dad told me what a horrible thing I'd done, and she eventually transferred us to a different school in third grade. That's where I met my best friends, Iggy and Nudge.

_I had to stay inside for recess because I didn't finish my homework the night before. I was stuck with two others, a girl named Monica, and a boy named James. I didn't really know them that well, but I knew enough about them to guess why they were in here. Monica had a mouth that could turn Mother Teresa into an axe murderer, and she was probably using it to drive her teacher up a wall. James had a thing for bringing matches to school, which, as you can guess, is against school policy._

_I smiled as I saw the teacher leave with a big yellow envelope in her hand._

_"I don't know about you two, but I'm ditching this place!" I said, heading for the door to go to the playground._

_"Wait! Can you do that?" James asked._

_"I can. I don't know if you can." I shrugged and turned back to the door._

_"But you could get in trouble! You could get a detention! I know you're new this year, but this school doesn't care if we're only in third grade! They give us a detention if we're repeat offenders! I got one once, but it was only because I was talking too much. But, I mean, what's so bad about talking? I'm socializing, making friends! It doesn't matter that I-oomf!" I ran across the room and shoved my hand over her mouth._

_"Can you please stop talking?" I asked. She smiled._

_"Sure! I'd love to!" She said once I'd pulled my hand off of her mouth._

_"Girls are dumb." James said from across the room. Nudge looked over and frowned. I did the same._

_"Boys are idiots." I said. Nudge gasped, and then giggled._

_"Yeah, boys are idiots! All they wanna do is play with fire and shoot stuff! I bet if you found a cute little family of cute little foxes you'd just burn down their cute little Igloo! Wouldn't you?"_

_It was James' and I's turn to stare._

_"Igloo?" He said. Then, we started to laugh."Foxes don't live in Igloos!"_

_"Well, they could live in one that was made already by people in the North Pole. Then they would," she said._

_"Hey, Igloo Burner, you should stop bringing your matches to the North Pole, you're ruining cute little foxes' cute little lives!" I laughed. I sat down in the seat next Monica and laughed until I saw the teacher come back in. She looked at us._

_"What's been going on?" She said with a no-nonsense tone._

_I nudged Monica because I didn't want to answer. She nudged me back._

_"Excuse me? What are you doing?" The teacher looked at us frowned._

_"Nudging." Monica said. "Nudging is fun. It's really fun!" She nudged me for emphasis, extra hard._

_"Yeah," I said, in pain. "Nudging is the new thing!" I nudged her as hard as I could with my elbow. The teacher looked at us, confused. Then she looked to James._

_"Hey, don't look at me! I'm just the Igloo Burner!" He said with his hands up. All three of us erupted with laughter, and the teacher gave us all a detention, and once again, I was an embarrassment to my Twin sister._

Eventually, Maya and I grew up into teenagers, and she developed an attitude like all kids do. My older brother and sister, Caleb and Margaret-Ann were moved out and in college. Margaret-Ann went to MECA for Art in Maine, and Caleb was in New Hampshire going to Dartmouth.

It's our freshman year in high school, and every single thing that I did had an affect on my sister. Maya and I attended Lowell High School in Lowell, Massachusetts, where we lived.

Right now, Maya was in my room, in my _personal_ space, chewing me out for being her boyfriends dancing partner in our gym class. I was patiently waiting on my desk for her to leave.

All Freshman had to take a dancing unit in Physical Education, and each Freshman has a partner to perform one of the dances with.

"What on Earth is wrong with you? Why would you choose _my_ boyfriend as a partner?" Maya yelled at me.

She let out a shriek of appalled rage and flew around my room as I rolled my eyes. With a wood floor, and a large desk, a small bed, and red walls, countless posters with my favorite bands and some cool shows, my room was totally decked out Max style.

"It's not like I picked him on purpose. I pulled his name out of a sweaty hat," I said, and set my head on my fist.

"You and Nikki can't be seen together!"

Ignoring me, Maya was almost ready to flop down on my bed. Then she took one look at the messy white comforter and unkempt pillows and changed her mind.

"I don't want to be seen with 'Nikki'," I said, mocking his name. "So I guess we're on the same page."

"Oh, yeah, of course you don't." She said sarcastically.

"What do you mean?" I lifted my head up and stared at her.

"Every girl in school wants to be seen with Nikki. Why are you any different?" She said.

"Because, I'm not one of the generic girls flipping my hair and batting my eyelashes just to get _some_one to look at me." I laughed wryly.

Maya glared at me.

"Maybe if you hung out with us, you'd see we're not that shallow." She said, flipping her hair and proving my point.

"Or maybe I'd die first," I grinned. It was her turn to roll her eyes, and my grin got brighter.

"Well, I hope you think about what you've done," She said to me like a disapproving parent. I nodded sagely.

"Will do."

With that, Maya finally left me alone.

What if Maya really wasn't shallow? I mean, she grew up in the same home, same environment as I did, and I didn't consider myself shallow.

But I also didn't belong to the same group of people as she did. Of course, I had two amazing best friends and a couple of other really good friends. But I didn't know really how Maya's group functioned. All I knew about them was that they were exclusive, and very intimidating to the lower classes. Of course, to other Freshman they were either the group to envy, or the group to hate. Or, for us, they were just a group of people we called the Pops.

I decided to disband my desk and chair and head downstairs into the living room. I was about to watch some TV when I smelled something delicious.

Mom was home tonight, since it was a Monday and she was cooking supper.

"Hey mum." I walked into the kitchen and leaned casually on the counter. I watched her cook the spinach turn overs she'd promised to make. They were my favorite.

"Hi, honey." She started mixing up the spinach in a pan, caramelizing it. "How was your day?" She asked, looking over at me.

"Well, not great. Mr. Pates announced our dancing unit in gym today, and I got paired up with Maya's boyfriend.

"Ooh, how'd she deal with that?" She said with a smile.

"Oh, you know. She was freaking out." I said. Mom laughed.

"That stinks," she said.

"Mooooom!" Maya cut in, coming into the kitchen.

"What babe?" Mom asked not turning while she added in some pine nuts with the spinach.

"Max is trying to take my boyfriend away from me!"

"I already beat you to it, Maya," I said. "She know's what's really happening."

"Shiz," Maya muttered out of earshot.

"Maya, stop overreacting." Mom said, turning to give her a meaningful glance.

"Okay, well, I'm only slightly overreacting!" She said. She thought a moment. "Nikki keeps asking if I want to come to his house to meet his parents. Can I pleeeaase go?" She asked, expertly switching the subject.

"Maya, you know how I feel about it."

"But, Mumma!" She cried again and I rolled my eyes.

Mom sighed, and turned back to the stove. "Do you think you'd want to have him over here for dinner? And then maybe I'll think about it?" She compromised. Maya sniffled.

"I guess, so."

"Good, go grab the phone and call him over." Mom said.

I took the moment where mum looked over to find the phone on the counter to grab some pine nuts from the bag and into the living room to watch TV.

Fifteen minutes into the office, I heard the front door open and Dad walk in.

"Hey Dad!" I smiled and waved from my comfortable position on the couch.

"Hey, baby girl!" He said coming over and ruffling my hair. He set his brief case on the floor beside the couch and sat down beside me.

"How was work?" I asked. He shrugged and threw an arm around my shoulder.

"It was fine. How about you, how was school?"

"Oh, it was awesome." I lied.

* * *

Me and my dad had it good, but that was because I didn't tell him how Maya treated me all the time. Dad hated conflict, so it was best not to bring him into anything like that. After supper, I kissed the cook and headed up to my room. Maya came up a second later.

"Max, I have a deal for you." She said excitedly.

"What is it?" I said, intrigued. I sat down on my bed and listened intently.

"How about you ask Dad or Mum if you can practice your dance with Nikki after school at our house?"

"And you sincerely believe that I will do this without something in it for me?" I said.

"Well, kinda." She said like it was something I owed to her.

"You're freaking hilarious," I said, leaning down on my bed. She frowned, and relaxed into my pillows. "Nah, maybe I'll just ask Mom if I can go to his house after school to practice." Maya's eyes widened and I swallowed the urge to laugh.

"Wait! I'll... make you popular?" She said like it was a question. I looked at her in all seriousness.

"Maya, sweetie, if I wanted to be the top of the school, I could be. I just don't want to sink to your pathetic level." I closed my eyes just to show her how much this didn't bother me.

"Fine. I won't make your life any more miserable than it already is." This piqued my interest, and I looked up.

"That sounds great." I said without any hint of sarcasm. She smiled, and held out her perfectly manicured hand.

"Oh, this will be so awesome!" She said, running out of my room and squealed.

* * *

**So? Review, please! **

**On my old account I got 23 reviews! Let's see if we can beat that this time! I must have AT LEAST 23 before I release the next chapter!**

**So, any returning readers will know that I changed this quite drastically. I hope you like it, though, and find hope in the new story! The plot is pretty much the same, however, the fine details and story built around it are varied**

**.Chemi.**

**P.S. Even if you don't have an account, you can review as a guest! :) Reviews make me happy, and make me update!**


	2. Tuesday and Friday

**So, I only got 4 reviews. And, I was kind of disappointed. **

**But since I had this chapter done, I decided to post it anyways and hope for a better turn out. I don't know if anyone reads this, anyways, but this chapter is just supposed to show passage of time, because I decided I didn't want to rush right into the plot line, like I did last time I wrote this. **

**Enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Burger King or Wendy's, either. I don't- Why are you asking me this?**

* * *

**~Anything But~ Average**

**Chapter 2:**

After Maya left my room last night, I thought about our deal, and how well she could keep to it. Not making my life more miserable than it already is? I have to admit, I was fascinated by the idea. I also didn't know how well she was going to keep her word, because, let's face it, she's been torturing me for years on end.

I gave up thinking about it after a while and just hollered to my parents that I was going to bed. Maya surprised me by saying, "Night, Max! Love you!"

Maybe Maya could be a good person.

* * *

I woke up to an obnoxious beeping emitting from my bedside table.

I groaned aloud, realizing it was a new school day.

_Tuesday,_ I thought. I stood up and yawned, grumbling the way over to my dresser to see if I had any clean clothes.

Once I was dressed in something school acceptable, I grabbed my _Barnes and Noble _school bag and headed downstairs. Mom had already left for work, and Dad was standing at the stove in his boxers with tired eyes, cooking something. Dad really wasn't a morning person. That's something I inherited from him.

Maya was sitting at the table eating an omelet and drinking milk.

"Mornin'," I said. Dad grunted and Maya smiled.

"Hey, Max!" Maya said.

This whole Maya not-treating-me-like-a-hobo stick was going to take some getting used to.

Dad looked over at us and raised an eyebrow. "Since when are you two getting along?"

I shrugged and sat down across from Maya.

"Dad, can you make me some eggs? Oh, thanks." He set down a pile of scrambled eggs in front of me, and handed me the ketchup.

* * *

Gym, later that day, was particularly awkward. We were learning moves to the Jitterbug, and some of the moves, actually, pretty much all of them were touchy feely. Maya's boyfriend, Nick, was my dance partner, and he had no beat with his feet, whatsoever.

"No, you have to have an even amount of time for you do that each time," I said. I showed him what I meant, but he tried again and I groaned.

"How can you be this bad at dancing?" I asked miserably. I looked up at him, with long black hair, dark eyes, and a strong jaw. No matter how hot Maya thought he was, he was still extremely irritating.

"Sorry, I'm not good with my feet," he said. I scoffed.

"You don't need to tell me that." I said.

"Wow," he said, pausing in his attempts to do something sort of like the Jitterbug. "You're in a great mood."

"Yes, I am!" I said, laughing. "I would be in an even better mood if you could keep a beat!"

"Max! Nick! Keep dancing!" Mr. Pates shouted across the gym. I gave him a thumbs up and continued to lead in the dance.

"Let's just get through all of the moves, once."

"Hey," my friend Iggy said, coming to sit beside me at the lunch table. I smiled and shoved him lightly with my shoulder in greeting, my mouth full of chips. I didn't feel like packing anything good for lunch today. Again.

"How was gym?" Iggy guffawed. Pretty much everyone in the Freshman class knew that Nick could not dance. Courtesy of all the girls in our gym class.

I swallowed and rolled my eyes at him, and in annoyance of Nick.

"Awful. I swear, he couldn't dance if his life depended on it," I said, shoving more chips into my mouth. "If you could come into my gym class with a wig and some contacts, could you be my dance partner?" I asked him. Iggy had strawberry-blonde hair and bright blue eyes, the polar opposite of Nick.

"Ha! If you're parents would let me over," Iggy said.

You see, Iggy came over in seventh grade once, the year our friendship really developed, and he had a tendency to crack inappropriate jokes. He was kicked out after Mom said she didn't enjoy his humor. I was still able to go over to his house, but my Dad hated that I was hanging around him.

Which is immensely unfair, because it's not like there's anything going on between us. Sure, I've been best friends with him ever since that fateful day in third grade, and best friends since seventh, but if I were to date Iggy...

I'm not even going to think about it.

After some small talk about what went down last night, and Iggy being shocked and happy for me, the bell rang and I weaved my way to my locker. I was pulling my books for tomorrow out of my locker and I heard the telltale _squee _of Nudge behind me. I felt myself slam into my locker as Nudge hugged me til' I could barely breathe.

"Devon asked me out!" She yelled in my ear. _Do I even know who that is?_

"That's great," I gasped out. "But I can't breathe."

"Oh..." She said, letting me go.

"But I can't go out with him, because I promised Sam that I'd go to the dance with him, so it would kind of be like cheating if I told him yes, but it's still..."

I recognized a Nudge Episode when I heard one and tuned out.

* * *

Two days later, I got home from school alone. Maya was at some meeting or other, Mom and Dad were at work, which left me alone with nothing to do. I Salty-Dogged it up to my room, a new dance we learned in gym today, another totally hopeless cause for Nick and I's dancing project, and changed into some sweatpants and a Tee.

I jumped onto my bed and dragged my laptop from under my pillows. I pulled up my internet browser and got onto the Chatzy I shared with my best friends. We'd made the chatbox exclusive to the three of us.

**cookymonstur: hey, guys, whats up**

I completely ignored anything I was taught in English class.

**brighteyes: not much**

**cookymonstur: wheres nudge?**

**brighteyes: no idea**

**brighteyes: probably at some sport practice**

**brighteyes: if you know what i mean**

**cookymonstur: youre so dumb**

**cookymonstur: i wonder how your mom feels about that**

**brighteyes: shes fine with it**

**cookymonstur: okay well someones ringing my doorbell brb**

The incessant _bing-bong _of the doorbell rang in my ears and I yelled out, "I'm coming! Geez."

I opened the front door to see Nudge.

Nudge was a whole different story with my parents. They absolutely loved her, even though her ceaseless chatter exhausted them. Like it did everyone.

"Hey Max! So, I was thinking we could hang out tonight, since it _is_ a Friday night, and we usually do something on Friday nights, like watching a movie or going somewhere in town, or something along those lines! Which reminds me-"

"-That you need stop talking."

* * *

The rest of the weekend was spent like that, fooling around with Nudge, talking with Iggy over Chatzy, and surprisingly getting along well with Maya. We even went to the park together, though it was a park that no one we knew went to, that didn't escape my notice.

But, either way, the low key, normal weekend did nothing to prepare me for the shock that I came to witness on Sunday night, when Maya got a text from someone in Colorado.

* * *

**Sorry for the short chapter, guys. But, please review!**

**And check my blog for excuses that I will be releasing tonight or tomorrow! (chemiburned) dot (****blogspot) dotcom**

**.Chemi.**

**P.S. Even if you don't have an account, you can review as a guest! :) Reviews make me happy, and make me update!**


	3. Sunday

**I'm up to 17 reviews right now! So excited!**

**I'd just like to say to everyone who reviewed, the loud bings on my iPod that alerted me of your review, favorite, follow et cetera, made my day, as well as scared me to death!**

**Disclaimer: And I don't own Diary Queen, either! Seriously. Geez.**

* * *

**~Anything But~ Average**

**Chapter 3:**

I was just getting out of the shower and putting my robe on, when I heard a scream coming from Maya, followed by sobs.

Nudge left my house early this morning, and I had spent the rest day with my family, lounging around the house after chores, then subsequently taking a shower.

I ran down the stairs to see if she was hurt, but all I saw was my mom rushing into the room and Dad sitting beside my sister.

"What happened, what's wrong?" I asked, coming in to sit down on the other side of Maya, Mom knelt front of her.

"C-car cra-ashh!" She said, tears running from her eyes in a constant downpour. She clutched her phone to her chest and wailed.

"What? With who, Honey?" Mom said. She rubbed my sisters arm comfortingly. Her expression was a mix of concern and curiosity. Mine was probably much the same.

Maya just continued to sob. It was a few minutes before we got Maya to calm down enough to tell us what had happened.

"D-do you r-remember Dyl-lan from-m Junior High?" She said, trying to get a hold of her voice. She looked at me to answer.

"Yeah, of course I do."

She closed her eyes tight, and I feared what she would say next.

We had both had a little crush on him in fifth grade, not that I would ever tell Maya that, but she got up the courage to ask him out, even though there really was no point in dating someone at that age, and they "dated" up until last year, when he moved away. She hadn't mentioned him until now.

"H-he was going to a c-concert with his friends, and-d he was in a car crash," she pushed out the words with effort.

"Oh, Honey-baby, I'm so sorry," Mom said, leaning up and hugging Maya tight. Maya cried for another few minutes.

"He di-idn't m-make it," she said.

"When did this happen?" Dad asked, an arm around her, hugging her to his chest.

"Dylan's m-mom said it hap-happened on-n Friday," Maya said, wiping her eyes and trying to control herself. I held her hand to offer up some support. She grasped it gratefully.

"Oh, Maya, I'm sorry." Dad put his other arm around her and she just cried for another long while.

* * *

I sat in Maya's room, with neon pink walls, posters of famous celebrities, and a bed with a white comforter, the same as mine. She had only one pillow on her bed, which was soaked with Maya's mucus and salty tears.

There was the sound of a bing, and a I picked up Maya's phone from her bedside table where I sat beside her on the bed.

"It's from Mrs. Jackson." I handed Maya the phone, and she opened the text message.

Maya sniffled as she read aloud, "Dylan's mom said that the Service is on Tuesday, and there will be an after service on Wednesday, and that if I wanted to go, she would love to have me there." Maya sighed and put her phone down. "I can't go," she said.

"Why not?" I ignored the fact that we had school this week. I was almost positive Mom and Dad wouldn't mind her going to the funeral. Or bringing her, for that matter.

"I have to go to school, and there are just complicated things that you wouldn't understand about me being gone for a whole week, you don't know what it would do to my social life at school, let alone Nick." She said, sitting up and wiping her eyes.

"Why? What would it do to Nick?" I asked, ignoring that fact that she totally underestimated my comprehension ability. She was in an emotional state, so I cut her some slack.

Maya frowned. "How well would the immature, Freshman class take it if I went to a funeral for my ex-boyfriend?" She shook her head, then continued, knowing I wouldn't bother to answer. Well, not if I wasn't going to say something snarky, which I would have. "They would make fun of me, call me some inappropriate names, and then totally disown me.

"Besides, Nick wouldn't like it if I went to his funeral. I mean, Dylan and I dated for four years. He would be mad if he thought that I still had feelings for him," Maya said. I rolled my inner eyes.

_Yeah, because he's really gonna be jealous of a dead guy,_ I thought somewhat insensitively. I wasn't trying to disrespect Dylan, but seriously, if Nick couldn't grow a pair and let her go to a funeral for someone she had deep feelings for _in the past, _then I would beat him until he relented. Or until death.

His, not mine.

"Maya, I'm sure if you're gone for four days and you don't tell anyone why, then no one will care. Besides, I'll be there to fend off any rumors. Does that put your mind at ease?" I asked.

She shook her head, and leaned against her pillows again. She sighed and looked up so that the tears that pooled in her eyes wouldn't fall.

"Not really."

"What if Dad wouldn't mind taking you, and I someway or another covered for you?" Okay, I admit that I felt really bad, and I didn't want to let her miss out on her ex's funeral. But that's the only reason I'm offering to be nice!

If only she wouldn't take it so far, because when I commit to something, I commit.

Her eyes brightened, and she sat half way up. "Do you Promise?"

"I promise," I said. If Dylan had been my boyfriend for four years, I would kill my current boyfriend if wouldn't let me go to his funeral, and I would maim anyone who talked about me doing it.

I guess I just had to do the same for Maya.

"What if, maybe... are you sure you'd cover for me?" Maya asked me, giving me watery Bambi eyes, the _worst._ Now I wasn't so sure.

"Of course," I said it anyway.

"Well, what if," she wiped her runny nose and looked at me eagerly. "What if you pretended to be me? Just for four days?"

I widened my eyes and shook my head. "No way-" She flashed me the Bambi eyes and I caved. "Oh, fine." I averted my eyes, pouting.

"Oh, thank you, Max!" She cried into my shirt as she hugged me. "You're the best twin sister ever!" I noticed vaguely as she embraced me that she said "best twin sister", and not "best sister". Of course, we both loved our older sister Margaret-Ann a lot. I wasn't totally peeved.

"Maya, I'm gonna miss four days of school, pretending to be you," I said. "How is _that_ fair? And what about my social status? How is my social status not important in this situation?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest once she was done hugging me.

We both laughed.

"No, but seriously."

"What?" Maya asked.

"I'm going to miss four days of school, where am I going to be? And how the heck is it going to play out?" I realized that we still had no plan.

"Well, the first thing we need to figure out is if Dad will take me to Colorado," she sighed. I nodded.

"Dad!" We both yelled.

The telltale footsteps pounded up the stairs and the door flew open.

"What is it?" Dad asked.

"Well, do you think that I could, that, maybe you could drive me to Colorado for Dylan's funeral?" She looked up at him, and he looked surprised. Then, he sputtered.

"Uh, uh- yeah. Sure, if that's really what you wanna do, Sweetheart." Dad sat in between us on Maya's bed. "What day is his service?"

"On Tuesday, but there's something going on for the family and close friends on Wednesday, too."

Dad sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I guess so, Honey, but I'm gonna miss four days of work."

"I'm sorry," Maya said, and she truly did look sorry."

"It's fine. Let me go talk to your mother about this," he said, and walked out of the room.

Maya smiled at me. "Thanks," she said. "Lissa would definitely try to get Nick to go out with her if I wasn't there for four days."

"So, the real reason comes out." I rolled my eyes at her.

"No, the other reasons were real too! This is just another big one."

Maya took a picture frame from the bedside table on her left, and looked at it.

"I really am happy. With Nick, that is." She smiled lovingly at the picture, I knew it was of her and Nick making funny faces.

"That's good," I said, and smiled at her. "I'm glad." And I really was, it would help her get over Dylan's death if she had someone to be there for her, other than family. Sometimes family was just too much, and you needed someone to depend on outside of your own flesh and blood.

"We'll have to tell him, of course," Maya said after a moment.

"Tell him what?"

"That you're pretending to be me." She hugged the picture to her chest and asked me to get her some PJ pants. I complied, and she continued.

"If we don't tell him, and he finds out accidentally, that would rain suspicion. And besides, you won't be able to catch him cheating on me if he thinks I'm right there." She changed and I thought about what she said.

"Yeah, that makes sense. Not that Nick would be the one cheating," I said. "Lissa, right?" I knew the majority of her friends, most of them had come over once or twice.

"Yeah. The redhead. She's kind of high maintenance."

"I figured."

"Call Nick, will you?" She asked me.

"No, you do it! You're his girlfriend!"

"So what? I don't wanna tell him I going to Dylan's funeral!"

"Girls!"

Our mother walked in with our father and they looked at us.

"Yes?" We said insync.

"Maya, pack your bag, you and your father will leave tomorrow morning, and Max, you can either help her or go to bed. It's a school night, regardless of tonights events." Mom was stern, but her voice was soft. She looked apologetically at Maya.

"I'll stay and help her," I looked to her to make sure it was alright. She nodded and our parents hugged us goodnight.

That was what we did, until 11 o'clock. Then I crashed in her room, too tired to change, let alone walk to my own room.

* * *

** Six pages that I worked on all night! Hope you like it! **

**But, even if you don't, please review!**

**I posted a new picture of a Maya/Max mashup on my blog yesterday, as well as a playlist the day or so before, with other pictures and crap. Check them out! Exclusives every/other day! (chemiburned) dot (****blogspot) dotcom**

**.Chemi.**

**P.S. Even if you don't have an account, you can review as a guest! :)**


	4. Monday 2

**So, up to 24 reviews, I believe. Don't quote me on that.**

**I decided to put up a chapter tonight, instead of waiting to put up a bigger one next Monday.**

**I'm thinking about updating on a set-schedule, so that I'm not pressured by this story, high school homework, and family events all throughout the week. What do you guys think of this plan?**

* * *

**~Anything But~ Average**

**Chapter 4:**

When I woke up that Monday morning, I blinked my eyes open, taking a moment to adjust to the bright pink of my sisters room. Last night had been extremely interesting, as Maya and I talked and actually acted like sisters for the first time since fourth grade, when we still shared a room because of our other two siblings.

_Maya whipped out her phone when Mom and dad left the room, as I folded more of the clothes she passed me and she packed them neatly into a suitcase. Her eyes were still red from the earlier debacle, and as she waited for Nick to pick up, she got more and more worried._

"_It's going to be fine," I said, passing a positively frilly and pink shirt over to her. She stuffed it in the suitcase as the phone picked up._

_"Hello?" She paused. "Hey, Nikki... Yeah, I just wanted to talk to you. Something happened tonight..."_

"_You remember Dylan from 5th grade, right?" Maya's breath caught in her throat. "Yeah, um, I got a text in class from his parents, and he was in a car crash. He -d-didn't-" Maya started to hiccup. I motioned for the phone and she passed it to me._

_"Look, Nick," I said shortly._

_"Max?" _

_"No, Darth Vader." I rolled my eyes. I heard a sigh on the other line and continued, still annoyed with his inability to dance. I'm immature, and I can't control it. _

"_Listen, Maya's ex, Dylan, was in a car crash and he didn't make it, so she wants to know if it would be alright if she went to his service in Colorado. She'll be back on Friday. Are you alright with it?"_

"_Yeah, of course. Tell her that I'm sorry, please." Nick said._

_"She'd also like me to impersonate her and break the law while she's gone so that rumors won't start circulating and so that Lissa-" Maya grabbed the phone from my hand. _

_"What's wrong with you!" She whispered, holding a hand over her phone._

_"What?"_

_"He doesn't need to know that part! Geezum, Max." She put her phone back up to her ear. _

_"Sorry." _

_Maya composed herself, wiped her tears, and sniffed. Her tentative voice was quiet. _

_"Good... Um, I didn't really think about that. Just a minute." She covered her phone again. _

_"He wants to know how you guys are going to get the project done. It's due on Friday, isn't it?"_

"_Yeah," I nodded. "Just tell him that I'll be... what's an excuse?"_

"_Maya, we haven't even figured out an alibi yet! Where will I be during the school hours?"_

_Maya shifted._

"_How about you're sick?"_

"_No, too predictable. We want a strong alibi, so that Nick can assure the teachers he can still practice with you after school."_

_I shook my head. "No, that's fine! I don't have to have Nick as my partner. I can just get a zero, it'll be fine!" _

"_No, I'm not letting my boyfriend get a bad grade in gym class. So, how about you are... skipping school?"_

"_What?" I said. I would not let my reputation go down as I tried to save hers. "No way."_

"_Fine, what about... We need to hurry up! Nick is still on the phone." Maya said and rolled her eyes. _

"_Well, just tell him we'll have something figured out by tomorrow," I sighed, nothing coming to mind. Maya nodded._

"_Fine. Nick?" Maya held the phone back up to her ear. "Yeah, Max will have to tell you what we come up with Tomorrow at school."_

_I continued to fold some clothing and put them in a pile, Maya grabbing the clothing and then organizing them in her suitcase. _

"_Um, yeah, would you mind bringing her to all my classes? Don't tell. Thanks, Nikki. Yup, bye."_

_"So?"_

_"It's all set!"_

Eventually, we got through all of the bugs in our plan. She told me that I was forbidden to tell Iggy and Nudge, which was a total setback for me. I love hanging out with my friends, and I hate lying to them. But I knew that somehow, I'd get through four days of not being able to hang out with them.

I groaned and rolled out of Maya's comfortable bed, shuffling to my room and shutting the door. I checked the clock, and then I pulled a stack of clothes from atop my dresser. Maya had picked outfits for me for Monday through Thursday, and quite frankly, the outfits weren't as bad as they could have been.

Some ripped skinny jeans and a cute tank top completed my outfit for today, which was usual for Maya. She laid out some small wedges, as well, and I knew that many times today I would be face planting.

_It's for my sister,_ I thought. _For my stinking sister._

Once I had brushed out my hair and put on some grotesquely big dangling earrings, I grabbed Maya's bag and went down stairs to grab a bowl of cereal.

After I cleaned up and hopped on the bus, we arrived at school and Nick was waiting out by the front double doors. I smiled wryly and he moved to take my hand. I let him, but it was really awkward. I'd never held a boys hand before, except in dancing, of course.

"So, what's you're poison?" Nick asked.

"Apparently, I'm at some day camp, skipping school," I shrugged.

"Ah, and what type of camp would that be?" Nick asked me. We fell into an easy conversation.

"Drama camp. It was the only thing going on, and I'm going to quit early on Thursday. I didn't even know I was _into_ drama."

"Me neither."

Once we came up to the hallway my locker was in, I went to walk over to it. Nick pulled me away towards a hallway branching off of it instead.

"Hey! What the -" He put a hand over my mouth.

"Now, I don't know about you, _Maya,_ but I thought you knew your locker was over here." Nick smirked. I blushed and shook my head.

"I was... just making sure I remembered where Max's locker was so I could collect all of her homework for her..." My eyes widened as I realized what this meant. "Oh my gosh, I'm going to have to do both of our homework!" I looked at him with shock. He smiled.

"She told me not to tell you."

I shut my mouth and glared at him.

"Hey, Nick. Do you know where your sister is?" I asked him. He nodded and stared at me, waiting for me to go on.

"I don't know how to... make-up...?" It came out as more of a question. Truth is, Maya put this tote of make-up in her bag with a note saying to "Find Nick's Sister".

"She's in Mrs. McCarthy's home room."

"Oh," I said, "Thanks."

"Come on, you don't need her to do your make-up. I know how to do make-up."

Nick grinned and I was temporarily blinded while I tried to shake my head. He led me into the boys bathroom and to the mirrors. No one was in there, thank goodness. Most boys were out in the parking lot in the morning, showing off their trucks like the hicks they are.

Still, I closed my eyes not wanting to see anything else than the mirror. I passed him Maya's make-up bag.

"Looking gooood," Nick said. I turned and stared into the mirror.

I was surprised: Nick did a great job. I looked just like Maya.

It was almost as if I wasn't even Max anymore.

"I dabble in art. I do Ella's make-up sometimes," Nick shrugged it off. Like it was something that normal older brothers did for their younger sisters. Caleb certainly never did.

"Okay, well, thanks. We should get to homeroom, I guess," I hopped off the counter and made my way out the door. Nick grabbed my hand and people stared at us as we came out. Oh, great. Now Maya looked like a tramp.

Nick led me to the right of the hall and to a room labeled 24. He stood by one of the chairs and motioned for me to sit, and he followed suit.

"Hey, we have AP math right now," Nick whispered into my ear. I shivered unintentionally.

"And I have no idea where that is," I smiled at him grudgingly. A blonde girl with bright green eyes looked over at me with an odd look.

"That's Brigid," Nick whispered to me. I smiled at her without turning to look at him. Her odd look still stayed, but I felt a hand slip into mine. Before I could slap it away and tell the person off, Nick pulled me forward and I realized we were supposedly together.

"Lead the way," I whispered.

* * *

**So, review what you think about this chapter, my idea of a set updating schedule, and if you like the schedule idea, possibly propose a set day to update on? Something not in the middle of the week would be a good thing, but since I'm basically re-writing the whole story, I need more time than I thought I would. Thanks for reading!**

**.Chemi.**

**P.S. Even if you don't have an account, you can review as a guest! :)**


	5. Monday 3 and Tuesday 2

**30 reviews, guys! Come on.**

**I got 14 reviews for the last Chapter 5, on the previous version of this story. Let's see if we can make that, or better yet, beat it!**

**I'm really sorry that I didn't update last week. I got grounded, and I had to re-write the whole thing, blah-blah-blah.**

**Anyways.**

**Disclaimer: I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never even eaten_ there._**

* * *

**~Anything But~ Average**

**Chapter 5:**

"No, you step to the left, like this," I explained, using my foot to shoce Nick's leg to his left. "Good, okay, put you hand in mine and then- no, other hand." I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Yes, and spin me in, then grab my other hand."

After Fang had lead me all throughout the school to Maya's respective classes, we headed back to my house on the bus. The people I talked to were awful, and I think they might guess something's up if I don't get my act together and realize I only have 3 days left. Hopefully.

Now, we were in my living room with the futon pushed to the side of the room and our rug rolled up so we could practice dancing.

"Alright. Can we take a break, now?" Nick asked.

"Fine," I dropped his warm hands. I only noticed they were warm because they were sweaty. Not because...

"Want some... watermelon?" I asked, looking in the fridge and saying the first thing that came to mind.

"Sure. That'd be great."

I checked in the fridge.

"Well, okay, let's go buy some," I said, walking over to the door and slipping on some shoes.

"What? I only said yes in case you had some." Fang walked over to me and slipped on his shoes as well.

"It's no big deal, there's a corner store like 3 minutes away from here, and I have a couple scooters. Wanna go?" I shrugged.

"Fine."

I walked over to my garage, and opened the side door, pulling out two scooters and passing one to Nick.

"Here, can I trust you not to fall off?"

Nick glared at me and we continued on down my driveway, and onto the main road.

Nick and I pushed our left legs on the pavement, racing down to the corner store, not far from my house.

"Hey, coming up, there's a little bit of a bump," I said, panting in the heat.

"Alrighty."

I rolled my eyes, wishing Nick were a little bit more social. The silence between us wasn't awkward, it was just silence. I liked to fill up the silence sometimes, and Nick didn't really cater to that.

We got to the corner store (more of a mini-mart) and I walked over to a big bin, and I picked one out.

"Here," Nick said. He put his ear on the watermelon and knocked on it. Shaking his head, he picked up another one and did the same thing. He did it to three more watermelons until he, apparently, found the one he wanted.

"Umm... Okay." I said, turning to go to the cashier. I hope Nick gets some help, I thought to myself. He really needs it.

"That's how you find out if they're ripe or not."

"Right, right," I said, nodding for his benefit.

"No, Max, I'm serious," Nick put the watermelon on the counter. "Fine, don't believe me. You'll know how ripe that is when we get back."

"Awesome."

The cashier tendered the watermelon and we left, grabbing our scooters from behind the glass door.

"Here. I'll carry it." I took the bag from Nick's hands and started off on my scooter. "You could use this time to think about what you did." I laughed softly at my own joke, but Nick just rolled his eyes in response.

We came halfway to our house when I heard a crash behind me, and I looked back to see Nick, flat on his face. He looked up at me, and even though I started laughing, I know I shouldn't have.

"Oh, Nick," I laughed some more, "I'm so sorry- I don't mean to laugh," I said, my hands up by my mouth. I really felt bad, I really did. "You just have awful balance!"

I sat down the watermelon, and ran over to Nick, kneeling next to him.

Nick's top lip was bleeding and I stopped laughing. Blood grossed me out. He pinched his top lip in-between two fingers, and pulled it out, his eyes crossed over his nose, and I got a look at his pearly whites.

His incisor was broken. There was only a jagged piece of bone left behind, in the shape of a fang. A corner had been taken off that easily!

Even though his teeth were bloody, I couldn't help but laugh again.

"Hey, Fang, maybe you should work on some balance techniques, because you're really asymmetrical."

LINE BREAK

Once we got back home, I realized that I couldn't stop calling "Nick" Fang once I had started. It just caught on. I've always had a thing for giving people nicknames.

Fang said his tooth wasn't in pain, and I believed him (but only because I had part of my tooth chipped off once, and it didn't hurt at all).

We practiced for another 45 minutes, eating pieces of, I hate to admit it, very ripe watermelon, until we just decided to stop.

I flopped on the couch with another slice of bright red, seedless melon, and flipped on the TV. I felt the couch sink next to me as Fang sat down.

Nothing but old reruns of The Office were on, so we watched those. The watermelon was long gone when 5:30 rolled around, and we were simply laying on the couch, staring each other down after an argument about what movie was better: the Titanic, or Romeo and Juliet, both with Leonardo diCaprio.

"You're so wrong."

"I doubt it," Fang said. "Very rarely am I wrong."

"I don't engage in a battle of wits when my opponent is unarmed," I said.

"Ha. Ha."

There was silence and a bit more staring for a few more minutes.

"Romeo and Juliet was way better."

"The Titanic sinks Romeo and Juliet."

"Very punny," I said, snarling at Fang. "Leonardo diCaprio was tripping all over the place and being really cute, and he cried when he saw the mistake he made. It was so much more adorable!"

"Yes, and The Titanic was very sad, he gave his life so she could live." I tried to interrupt him here, but I failed. "And, and! And, Kate Winslet was smart enough to know that he wanted her to have kids and have a life, even if it meant without her!"

"Yeah, whatever, Fang." I sneered the word.

"Ehwamawah." Fang made a face.

I got up and walked into the kitchen, ignoring Fang and getting out a frozen pizza.

"Let's eat supper, then you can go home."

"Fine."

LINE BREAK

The next morning, I picked up another outfit from my dresser, shoving it on over my messy hair and sleepy eyes.

When Mum came home last night, she asked me about my day, and I had to say, "Oh, it was fine."

"Fine? Just fine?"

"Nothing special, Mumma."

I continued on to brush out my hair and wash my face, making sure my hair was in a "stylish" braid. I ate my breakfast, and hopped on the bus, my stomach churning a little at the throught of having to go through another day pretending to be my twin sister.

What if I screw up?

LINE BREAK

The bus let us off at school and we all piled out, making our way to our respective lockers.

Fang leaned next to Maya's locker as I got stuff out for today.

"Need your makeup done?" he asked. I nodded without looking at him.

Fang led me into the boys bathroom again. "Do guys ever come in here?" I asked. It looked deserted and bare, the same as last time I came in here.

"Nah. They think it's haunted. People can be pretty dumb." He laughed.

"You don't think it is?" I asked as he patted something onto my eyelids.

"Nope. I think they're just being silly."

"Oh." We sat in silence until he was finished. He rested his hands on either side of me as he inspected how he did. He was close enough that I could feel his breath, but I ignored it. He sighed and let me hop off the counter.

"As good as it's gonna get," he said.

We we walked to homeroom in silence. Fang took my hand in his as Brigid walked by and we kept it up when we sat on our desks. Lissa walked over to us.

"Oh my gosh, guys!" She said, addressing both of us but looking solely at Fang. "There's a play on Friday night! I hear it's going to be a Cinderella knock off or something. We should all go!" She smiled brightly and Fang and I had the urge to squeeze his hand harder.

"Okay, Lissa. That's great. Have you told Brigid?" I asked through clenched teeth. I saw Fang look over and smirk, but I wasn't really paying attention. Lissa thought for a moment, smile faltering.

"Oh, yeah, I guess I should. I could go talk to her about it..." She walked away hesitantly, throwing one last smile at Fang.

"So, Maya," Fang said and looked to me. I rose an eyebrow in question. "You're pretty good at acting. You almost had me convinced that you were jealous. You sure you switched with your sister? I'm beginning to think that Max might have actually taken that acting class after all." He crooned. I let go of his hand and wrenched my arm away in disgust. I looked away with my nose up.

"I was not jealous, and the rest of that doesn't even make sense."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive," I snapped at him. "Leave me be. I don't need to deal with your ignorance."

"Oh, come on," Fang looked over at me and smiled but I stuck my tongue out.

"You know I'm irresistible."

I rolled my eyes. "Hardly. And besides," I continued, "It wouldn't matter even if you were irresistible, you're still a nuisance."

"Hmph."

Once the bell rang, I hurried off to AP Calc, which I would never be able to understand.

Sorry Maya, but this week you're getting a horrible grade in homework. At least for Math.

LINE BREAK

The rest of that day was quite uneventful.

Until I got home, anyways, in which all hell broke loose.

* * *

**So, cliffie there for ya!**

**Anyways, here's a litte something: if you read my blog, then write a review with the word"pickles" in it, or a story about pickles, or something!**

**Thanks!**

**What do you guys think about having a question at the beginning of every chapter that has to be answered by a reviewer, and the best answer gets a place in my authors note, as well as any "notable mentions" answers?**

**.Chemi.**

**P.S. Even if you don't have an account, you can review as a guest! :)**

**EDIT:**

**OMGOMGOMG**

**I THOUGHT I HAD THIS POSTED TWO OR THREE WEEKS AGO, AND THEN I REALIZED THAT THIS WAS STILL UP HERE AND I READ MY AUTHORS NOTE AT THE TOP AND OMG I'M SO SORRY I WAS SO WORRIED NO ONE LIKED MY STORY AND THAT WAS WHY NO ONE WAS REVIEWING AND JUST AS I WAS POSTING THE NEXT CHAPTER I REALIZED THIS AND OMG I'M SO SORRY I'M A TERRIBLE PERSON PLEASE UNDERSTAND THIS WAS SO FREAKY MY HEART STOPPED BEATING ONCE I REALIZED THIS AHHH**

* * *

**You had no idea how worried I was no one liked my story...**

**I'm sorry for being a terrible person ahhh**


	6. Tuesday 3

**~Anything But~ Average**

**Chapter 6:**

Fang and I agreed to go to my house again to practice for gym. I don't really know what I thought was going to happen, definitely not what actually did.

If you think I'm talking about... y'know, then it's not what you think at all. At all.

But it was slightly more uncomfortable than even that.

"Okay, Fang, take five," I said, wishing he would just be graceful. Who thought that the almighty Fang would be klutzier than Clumsy Cathy, the known klutz around school?

"Finally," he said, flopping down on the couch. I sat next to him, but we didn't turn the TV on. Just rubbed the arches of our feet.

"Y'know, if you actually wanted to get a good grade, you could try," I said, trying to soften the silence.

Fang made a face and mimicked me. Laughing, I walked into the kitchen to grab some chips off the top of the fridge.

Sitting down beside Fang, I offered him some chips. Taking some, he asked me a very good question with his mouth full.

"So what song are we dancing to?"

"I have no-"

"Aha!"

My head snapped to my left, where Iggy was standing in my open door.

"I knew it!" Iggy said. He pointed at me and smiled. You're pretending! Ha, Max, you're really bad at this. Seriously, I don't know what you're playing at-"

"Iggy?"

"And what are you doing here?" Iggy said, pointing to Fang.

"Iggy, please- How did you know?" I was about to explain myself when a thought occurred to me. I couldn't even tell myself apart from Maya in the mirror! How would Iggy know?

"Max." Iggy smiled. I thought he would be angry that I kept this from him. We'd decided it would be best for me to not tell him, so I just ignored him in the two classes we had together. "You're eating Dill Pickle chips. Maya hates Dill Pickle chips."

I looked down at the bag of chips I was eating from. "Oh, so I am."

I looked up at Iggy again and grinned.

"Were you even gonna say anything to Nudge or I?"

"Well," I started. I set down the bag of chips and glanced at Fang. He shrugged. "You're helpful," I said.

Iggy walked around the couch and stood in front of me, crossing his arms over his chest. One eyebrow was raised.

"Listen, I wanted to tell you. But I couldn't."

"Of course not." Iggy rolled his eyes.

"Okay, you know Maya's ex, Dylan?" I said. Iggy's face was blank, so I continued. "They dated for, two years, I think?" Still nothing. "Well, anyways, he got in a car crash in the town that he moved to, so she had Dad drive her to Dylan's service. It was kind of a snap decision, but she was worried how people might think of her if they knew she was going to an ex's funeral.

"Personally, I think people would understand, but she's paranoid, so I couldn't stop her from making me pretend to be her."

Iggy frowned, and made a face.

"I understand."

Iggy put out his hand for me to take, and I shook it slowly. "I don't... get it," I said eloquently, pulling my hand away.

Iggy walked into my kitchen and I heard him rummage around. Fang and I looked to each other, and then at the kitchen.

Okay.

"So." I heard Iggy say from the other room. "What are you guys doing?"

I got up and walked to where Iggy was sat at the kitchen table, eating leftovers from last weeks Shepherds Pie.

"Working on our gym project." Fang said, coming in behind me and taking a seat at my right.

"Oooh, what dance are you doing?" Iggy asked, taking the hotsauce out of our fridge and dousing his meal with it.

"Well, I wanna do the jitterbug, because it'd be fun with a good dance partner. But Fang can't dance, so, y'know." I stuck my tongue out at Fang.

"Fang, you can't do the Jitterbug?"

Fang shook his head, glaring at me. "No."

"That's the dance I'm doing for my project," Iggy said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve and standing up. "Come on, Fang, come watch."

Iggy grabbed my hand and pulled my into the living room. Immediately, Iggy started leading me into the Jitterbug and I smiled. Finally, someone who could dance!

Iggy spinned me out and I grinned at Fang as I spun back in.

"See how fun this should be?" I laughed at Fang. Iggy stopped there, and I let out a breath of air.

"What song are you doing it to?" I asked Iggy.

"Tessa decided on Apple Bottom Jeans. I think it's great!" Iggy smiled happily and did some nerdy dance move. My dear Iggy might have a crush. Passing on teasing him at the moment, I looked to Fang and rolled my eyes.

"And what song are you two dancing to?"

* * *

Iggy had left an hour ago, and Fang and I were searching through songs on youtube that were upbeat enough to perform our sequence of moves. We hadn't found any that we particularly like, mostly because Fang and I had very different music tastes. I liked old music, the classics, and he like My Chemical Romace, and Paramore.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Paramore fan, but I don't think that their songs are particularly perfect for the pace Fang has demanded we go. We have to be slow, but still seem like we're going fast. How does that work?

Finally, after it seemed like another three hours, I came upon a song that I was sure he would love. Everyone loved this song, right?

"Fang, get up!" I clikced on the youtube video and looked over to where Fang lay drooling on my couch. "Come on!" The music started, and I ripped Fang onto his feet. He was disoriented for a few seconds before he realized that I was trying to get him to dance. It was going well until he tried helping, but I let it go.

"We get it on most every night

When that moon is big and bright

It's a supernatural delight

Everybody's dancing in the moonlight"

"Do you like it?!" I said, a big grin on my face. I looked up into tired eyes and saw him smile.

"It's great."

"Awesome!"

Still holding Fang's hands, I sat on the floor and tried a move the our gym teacher taught us. We didn't really try it other than in class, but this was so much fun. I knew it was the song that we would dance to. And I was kind of excited to dance on Friday, this song was just so bubbly!

Fang swung his right leg over our arms and pulled me through his legs, twisting our arms until I was standing up in front of him. We continued our usual routine of moves until the end of the song rolled around and he did a spin out, and I ended up spinning with my back to his chest and my arms criss crossed across myself holding his hands.

"That was so fun," I said, pulling away. I refused to acknowledge that Fang might have been getting better at dancing, because then I would have nothing to tease him about.

"Yeah, it was."

There was a knock at the door and Fang's mom was here to come pick him up. I looked at the clock.

"Wow, it's already 7:30. Mom should be home soon," I said, looking at Fang. He was picking up his stuff.

A few more knocks on the door, then, "Coming, Mom!"

"Bye," Fang came over and put his arm around my shoulders, hugging me goodbye. I did the same, and then he was gone.

A few minutes after, mom came home and I smiled to see her.

"Hey, Max. I rented a movie!" She said. I laughed.

"Which movie is it this time?" I said.

"Jurassic Park 3," Mom said, bringing bags of groceries in and setting them on the table. "Here." Mom threw me a box of popcorn. "Pop that while I put these away, will you? And close the door."

I skipped over to the open door and shut it, skipping over to the microwave, and skipping over to movie mom set down on the table, all the while humming that addicting song.

"You seem happy," Mom stated plainly as I placed the DVD in the DVD player. Turning the TV on, I walked back to the beeping microwave and pulled out a big bowl.

"Mmm."

"Any particular reason?" Mom said, making wiggly eyebrows at me.

"No."

"Hmm."

"What?"

"I think my darling daughter has a crush on someone."

* * *

**You had no idea how worried I was no one liked my story...**

**I'm sorry for being a terrible person ahhh**


	7. Authors Note

**So, after this whole chapter/review debacle, I shall reply to some reviews!**

**Guest: I even gave you a double update! What do you think about that? And, you, my dear friend, are the reason that I found out that I had not posted the chapter! I pat on the back to you, good sir!**

**Leviosa12: Well, Nick and Max are definitely falling for each other, that's a given. ;) But I don't really think the Iggy and Maya thing rolls with me. Any form of Miggy disgusts me. No offense to any possible Miggy fans, :D Nudge and Devon are cute, and even though I don't go for Niggy either, I _might_ have a plan for Nudge, that's all I'm gonna say. Thanks for being so enthusiastic! **

**Larafares96: You're welcome, haha. I guess a schedule doesn't really work that well for me, *sheepish* I can't commit to a schedule why my life is already out of order. I'll try to keep going on a loose "once a week" thing, but whenever I say anything remotely "I'll do this!" I don't do it. Not purposely, of course, but it happens, and it sucks. Thank you for reviewing, though, it's nice to have someone review _every_ chapter. It's always nice to hear the bing of my iPod and then read an encouraging review from you! **

**MTCR'1-MR.2-1D.3-MI.4-VA: Wow, you're username is a handful. You're another one ofmy regular reviewers, I can always count on you for a review that makes me grin and feel all bubbly inside. Another reviewer that is the reason I review at all! I'm glad that you enjoy this story! I hope to make it funny and entertaining for everyone!**

**jeka564: Double more! :)**

**maxride227: Thank you! **

**faMRpercabethPJ: Haha, I guess a set schedule wasn't in my future. Sorry.**

**Again, I'm so sorry for the chapter confusion. But, I had a lot of fun writing that last chapter, even though, admittedly, Max was out of character at the end of that one. But, tell me that you wouldn't be skipping (and excited to dance) when you had Dancing in the Moonlight (by King Harvest, not my property) stuck in your head AND a FANG that was hot and there and dancing with you for no great reason. Who doesn't wanna jitterbug to that song? **

**Anyways, thanks for reading. **


	8. Wednesday

**So, I'm back!**

**I don't know if you'll like this chapter, it has some Fax in it, though. Read!**

* * *

**~Anything But~ Average**

**Chapter 7:**

Once I realized that my mother was delusional, I avoided her. The movie was great, and we had a good time while watching it, but the whole time that we were sitting there, my mind kept going back to what my mother had said.

How would she know? Did she know I was supposedly "crushing" on Maya's boyfriend? She wouldn't have acted so happy if she had.

I let it go after an hour of sitting awake in bed thinking about it. I was overthinking it. Right? I was, wasn't I?

School the next day was a bit different from the last two. I'd already told Igloo that I couldn't hang out with him, or even look at him, so he knew my boundaries. I told him that it could be very disastrous if Nudge found out, and we agreed not to say anything until it was over.

I did miss hanging out with her, though. Friday I was definitely having her over after school. Although I consider both Iggy and Nudge my best friends, Nudge is my best girl friend. There are some things that I talk about with Nudge, and not Iggy. Nudge and I got each other, and we always knew what each other meant, even when we didn't know how to word it ourselves.

Iggy was clueless for the most part.

By the time lunch rolled around, I was starving. I sat down beside Fang's sister, Ella. Ella was actually a great friend. She was nice, but she didn't overdo it, like Lissa did. I enjoyed her company around lunch because she wasn't so... high maintenance, in the words of my sister.

"So, I said he could stick it up his nose, and leave me alone," Ella said, laughing. I smiled, and raised an eyebrow at Fang, who rolled his eyes.

We were holding hands again, our fingers intertwined. Fang chose to ignore Ella and I's conversation and play with my fingernails instead. It was an odd thing that he did, he did when he was detached from the rest of us, which usually meant just at lunch.

Ella looked at him. "Aw, you guys are so cute," she said. I blushed because that wasn't really meant for "us". Fang fiddled with my thumb.

From across the table I could hear Lissa snort. I glared at her, and said, "Thank you Ella, I think we're cute too."

Fang was next to snort, but when I gave him a look, he scooted closer to me on the bench and grinned a heart-stoppingly bright grin.

"What?" he said, trying to be cute.

I stuck my tongue out at him like the immature child I am and turned to Ella. "So, what are you doing this weekend?"

Iggy and Fang both came over after school, (Iggy broke the rules quite frequently) and we all watched a movie.

I leant against Iggy's side as we laughed.

"You need people of intelligence for this sort of mission...quest...thing."

"Well I guess that rules you out, Pip."

Lord of the Rings was quite possibly my favorite series of movies ever.

Fang sat on the other side of the couch, chuckling. I looked away from him.

My eyes landed on the clock, it was 7:30!

"Crap, Iggy, you have to leave," I said, jumping up and pushing him off the couch.

Iggy looked to the clock as well. "Shiz!"

Grabbing his school stuff on the way out, Iggy pulled open the front door.

To see my mother standing in front of him.

"Oh, uh, hello, Gwen." Iggy said. His lanky frame towered over my mom and she raised her eyebrows.

"Hello, Mr. Griffiths."

Iggy rushed by my mom, and my mother walked in setting down her purse and taking off her coat before she turned to me with her hands on her hips.

"Max, why was that boy in this house?"

"Uhh..." I looked at Fang nervously.

"Gwen, Iggy was here only because I asked him to be. We were practicing dancing, and I wanted Iggy to show me how I could be better."

Mom smiled and shook her head. "That's very sweet of you to cover for Max, Nick, but Iggy and Max know very well that Iggy is not allowed in this house."

I smiled sheepishly at him.

"Max, you didn't tell me!" Fang said, acting surprised. Oh, great, now that he knows I'm gonna get in trouble anyways, he'll just throw me under the bus!

I smiled sheepishly at mom.

"You're grounded." Mom said and left the room. I called after her.

"Mummaa!"

"Max, that was not responsible of you to think that you could just get away with it." Mom gave me a look. Her ash colored hair was in a tight bun and her dress shirt was neat. She had a little mud on her short heels from our driveway, and her dress pants were still a very clean black.

"Mumma, why do you look so nice today?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, thanks, do I not look nice everyday?" She rolled her eyes and looked down at herself.

I looked at Fang for help. "That's not what I meant, mum."

"I got an interview for a promotion." Mom smiled and tried to act cool about it. "Better pay, better hours, it'll be great if I get it."

I got up off the couch and walked into the kitchen where she was making dinner.

"Better hours as in less for more, or more for more?" I said.

"Less for more, obviously." She turned to smile at me.

"Awesome!" I said, ignoring the fact that that meant Iggy would not be able to sneak over anymore, but happy that my mom could hang out with us more at our house.

"Yeah, I'm pretty excited about it."

"Can I get a ride home?"

"Ah!" My mom and I shrieked at the same time. We turned to see Fang standing there with a smile on his face and his phone in hand.

"My mom can't pick me up tonight."

"Oh. No problem, I'll drop you off right now." Mom left the kitchen and I heard her grab her keys and her coat. "I'm in the car!"

"You want me to come with you?"

"Nah, you can stay here and think about what you did." Fang said, laughing.

"Will do."

Fang hugged me goodbye. Again. "See ya," he said.

"Yeah, see ya."

Fang and my mom left the driveway and I walked upstairs slowly. Today was draining and confusing.

If...

I couldn't think about it. I'd go crazy. I thought of something or someone who could get my mind off of anything.

I logged onto Chatzy, and thankfully, Nudge was online.

cookymonstur: nudge! hows it going?

channel5nudge: max! its been forever! hows that day camp maya said you were at?

cookymonstur: its actually surprisingly okay

channel5nudge: i never knew you were even into theatre

cookymonstur: me neither

cookymonstur: hey wanna come over friday? lets go somewhere fun

channel5nudge: yes yes yes! theres a great movie showing that night. lets get some snacks at the dollar store and then go see it

cookymonstur: cool what movie

channel5nudge: its called the angel experiment its about this angel who is being experimented on but in the form of a wizard of oz takeoff

cookymonstur: sounds confusing but cool, see you there :)

channel5nudge: awesome because to me it sounded really good and i've wanted to see it for a while now but im so glad you asked because i miss you i haven't seen you since sunday and thats 3 days

cookymonstur has logged off

channel5nudge: okay bye

I climbed into bed and laid there until I heard the door open. Mom was home, but when she climbed the stairs to come talk to me (somehow I knew our earlier conversation wasn't over) I slowed my breathing and closed my eyes.

Mom opened my door and sighed, shutting it softly.

Eventually, I drifted into sleep, never guessing what could go wrong on my last day as Maya.

* * *

**So, yeah. Tell me if you like it, because I was kind of worried about ****this one. **

**My last Anything But Average story, a lot of reviewers wanted Max's best friends to find out about her pretending to be Maya. Are you happy? Or do you think it's better without Igloo Burner knowing?**

**Review!**


	9. Thursday

**~Anything But~ Average**

**Chapter 8:**

Walking into the school this morning was hard. Hard, because I was in a pissy mood.

Hard, because even though I got plenty of sleep last night, I really felt like being rebellious and breaking rules.

I have those days quite a few times in my life, and I know I just know I have to suck it up. And really, I was very happy. But I have The Urges (as I call them) at least twice a month for one day.

It was just bound to happen this week of all days.

So walking in and seeing Nudge crying at her locker was really hard for me. Fang, holding my hand in his left, squeezed it tight. I know that was supposed to be reassuring in all, but it made me want to reach out to her even more.

Fang let go of my hand and rolled his eyes. "Go," he said.

I was going to ask what he meant, but then I heard a particularly choking sob come from my best friend, and knew that he was referring to her.

Walking up to her "casually", I put a hand on her shoulder. Nudge looked up at me, and gave a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Hi, Maya."

"Hi Nudge," I said, wondering how to go about this. If I let her know that it was me, it would most likely make her more upset, so I came at this from Maya's perspective. "I know I don't normally do this, but, Max isn't here to do anything to help. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

I knew Nudge was shy around my sister, something about being slightly intimidated for no good reason that she could understand, but I don't usually hear her this upset, so I continued.

"Are you sure? Because you look like you've had an awful morning."

"It's just that I hate my little sister and my mom was in a bad mood and I got a really mean text this morning and my cereal tasted awful because I had brushed my teeth right before and I forgot and my orange juice was even worse and Sam broke up with me and on top of everything, I'm on my period!" Nudge said, bawling at the end. "It just makes it worse, and I hate being a girl!"

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry." I hugged her. "Do you need anything? Come on, let's go outside real quick."

We still had eight minutes until Homeroom bell rang, so I took her outside to get her cooled off.

Nudge and I sat on the side of the steps in front of our school.

"Sam broke up with you?" I asked after a few seconds of silence. Nudge started to cry again.

"Yeah, and he did it as soon as he saw me in the hall. He didn't have any remorse about it, and he did it right before the dance on Saturday night. The last formal dance of the season!"

"Oh. Nudge I'm really sorry." I said , hugging her to my side. There's a dance?

"It's okay."

The bell rang and I helped Nudge up, gave her a package of tissues from Maya's purse, and then walked her to her homeroom.

Leaving after I dropped her off,Nudge grabbed my arm softly.

"Thanks, Maya. I really appreciate that you would do something like that for your sisters friends." She gave me a small smile that did reach her eyes.

"No problem, Nudge."

* * *

_"Hey, I have to go to my locker to get my lunch, I'll be right back." I told him. He nodded._

_"Yeah, I have to go to Mr. Willoughby's real quick, I forgot my History book there during study hall." I smiled and headed off to my locker. "Hey!" I turned to look at him. He gave me a dazzling smile that lit up the world. "You sounded really great."_

_And then I freaking blushed. As if this day couldn't get more embarrassing._

_After I had gotten to my locker and picked up the lunch box, and after checking what I had for lunch, I went to the Cafeteria, expecting to meet up with Fang, but he wasn't there yet. I shrugged and made my way to Mr. Willoughby's room, hoping to catch him on his way back. But he wasn't there, so I looked in the door's window, and saw him cornered by a red head._

_Lissa, for you slow kiddies._

_Wait... wasn't this what Maya had wanted me to do? Something in my brain was ringing a bell... But I just went on instinct. I opened the door and screamed my lungs out as Lissa was about to kiss a wide eyed Fang._

_"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" I screamed at Lissa, putting on my best angry face. It was pretty good, if I do say so myself. I could act in a play... I should try out._

_She turned around and looked startled, then composed herself into a cool manner. "What?"_

_"What? What do you mean, 'what'?"_

_"What's you're problem? It's not like you're dating him anymore," she said. I stared at her shocked. "What? You haven't held hands at all today, you haven't kissed for a whole week, and you haven't butterfly kissed for two. It's obvious you guys are having problems." She inspected her nails as she said this, and I noticed Fang moving out from behind Lissa to stand awkwardly over by some other desks._

_"What the heck? Do you go around stalking us all the time?" I easily avoided the parts where she had mentioned us and "our" habits._

_"Oh, no, of course not. I have people for that." I looked at her incredulously. She huffed, annoyed. "But that's not the point. The point is, since you guys aren't together anymore, I call dibs." I gave her an "Are you psycho?" look._

_"Okay, hold up." I held up one finger and occupied my other hand with my hip. "Numero uno, you do not get to call dibs on a guy like he's the best steak at Apple Bee's. Numero dos, especially when the guy is taken. We are most surely still together." I crossed my arms, daring her to say more._

_Man did this chick have some guts._

_"Yeah? If you're so together, I dare you to kiss him."_

_"No."_

_"See? I knew it. You won't even kiss him." She smiled a smug little smile that I would so like to just chop off her face..._

_"You know what?" I said, walking over to Fang. "No, because this is just some silly little game you're trying to play. I don't have to prove to anyone anything about my relationship with Nick."_

_Lissa grinned. "Great! So," she said, turning to Fang, "When are you free this weekend, Nick?" She glanced at me and almost shrunk. Due to my Glare of Doom. If I may say so myself; it even scares me if I look in the mirror with it on. So, that's how good it is._

_"You want proof, you little wench?" I hissed at Lissa. "Watch me." I turned and did the most impossibly, horribly, idiotic, life changing thing in my entire life._

_I made out with my sisters boyfriend. At some point during the first few awkward moments, he was non-respondent, but then it turned into a full on "make out or die" scenario. It was scary. Scary great. I had that feeling of pure dread in my stomach, but my heart was fluttering to hard and fast for it to register in my brain. Within seconds, my hands had pulled up to his baby hairs at the back of his neck, and he had clasped his hands behind his back._

_It was bliss, but it was not ignorant. I knew the whole time that it would probably ruin me. Well, me and my sister. My sister and I, our relationship. But did I stop? Oh no. Not even when I heard Lissa scream indignantly and stomp off. Not even when I heard the door open, and neither did Fang. However, I did stop when I heard a voice._

_"Excuse me," it was a strong male voice, and I stopped and pulled away from Fang. We were both blushing profusely. "What do you think you're doing, in my classroom, making out?" It was Mr. Willoughby. He shook his head with a small smile, and said, "Detention, both of you, Monday afternoon. You stay til 3 o'clock. Please leave."_

_We rushed out of there so fast, I wasn't even sure we had been in there in the first place. Then I remembered what happened._

_"Oh God." Fang slid down the wall with his head in his hands. "Max, I don't..." I slid down the wall on the opposite side, stunned to pieces. I can't believe I did that... My stupid pride! If Lissa hadn't challenged me... Urgh!_

_"Yeah." I said. "I'm sorry... I hung my head, feeling so stupid. "Lissa challenged me and... and you know how I get if I'm challenged. I just... Ugh, Fang, I'm so sorry."_

_"I get it. It's not all your fault... Stupid teenage hormones. I'm sorry, I really didn't... It's not that... It's...Gah, I'm so sorry."_

_I felt the exact same way... "Oh my word, my life is ruined. Maya's gonna kill me, bring me back to life, and take out my spine to beat me with it 'til I die again."_

_"Me too," Fang said. I heard him mutter something else, but didn't quite catch it._

_"What was that?"_

_"He... uh, um, I said, uh, sorry for getting you a detention." He blushed. I smiled, ignoring his stuttering._

_"Hey, it's Maya who has a detention."_

_"Let's go to lunch," Fang said, grinning, a blush still spread like jam on his cheeks._

I woke up as Mr. Willoughby banged something hard on his desk and I yelped.

"Ms. Walker, care to tell us what you were dreaming about?" Mr. Willoughby smiled.

Mr. Willoughby was a cool teacher, easily one of the most laid back, but he liked to embarrass kids who weren't "doing exactly as they should". This was one of those times.

"Pink ponies and dancing sheep," I said and smiled. Mr. Willoughby laughed.

"Very funny. How about detention on Friday?" He said.

"Monday would be better." I negotiated. I had a plan to sneak out of the house Friday night to go see a movie with Nudge, I wasn't going to waste time that could be spent plotting my escape. Especially since Mom came home at 5:oo on Fridays. Usually she went on a date with my dad, but I have no idea what her plans were for tomorrow night.

"Alright, Monday it is."

Class continued on as normal while I thought about the dream I'd had. Dafu?

So, my subconscious was messed up, my mother was really messed up: I'm getting messed up from all around.

The bell rang and I didn't have time to dwell on the subject any longer. Leaving the class room, the hall was a fury of sweaty teenage bodies and disapproving teachers eyeing the hallways.

Well, here goes.

Maya's coming home tonight. Get through Lunch, and the rest of the day, Maya will be home in less than 7 hours.

That's all. I can do that.

I can let Maya come home, even though I have to deal with the fact that I'm the worst twin sister that anyone could have.

Because I was crushing on her boyfriend.

* * *

**Haha, thanks, guys.**

**Review! **


	10. Author's Note

**You don't know how bad I feel right now.**

**Writing this story, lately it's just been really overwhelming. I hate being overwhelmed.**

**I've been trying to write this for_ever_ now, and it's just aggravating, because I'm starting to write it more now, but everything I write, I just want to change, but it's already been posted, people have read it, and I can't change any of it.**

**Can I just give up? Or will people will hate me too much because I've already re-written twice?**

**Can I just tell you guys what I've decided to end it with? I started crying today because my dumb perfectionism came out and now that I know for sure how I want to end it, I feel like I have to change some things in previous chapter, and that would be even more overwhelming and aggravating, and I just can't. **

**Please tell me what you think. What do you want?**


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